Josh Kingston
Joshua Everett "Josh" Kingston (born 13 September 1997) is a Canadian, French, and American singer-songwriter, voice actor, podcast host, and author who has been signed with Banana Music Group since 2011. His debut album'' Symphony'' was released on 9 November 2011, followed by his second album[[ In January| In January]], which was released on 20 April 2012. His third album Up in Flames was released on 28 June 2013. A documentary entitled Elements is scheduled for a December 2013 release. Life and music projects '1996–2009: Early life and youth' Kingston was born in the University Endowment Lands; an area directly adjacent to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to parents Jacob and Anna Kingston. He has five brothers and three sisters. Before entering his singing hobby, he participated in several swimming, soccer, and basketball teams. He also participated in several independent plays, musicals, and short films. In January 2008, at the age of 10, he moved with his family to the Kensington Market area of Toronto, Ontario. Following his father's loss of a job, his family relocated to Brooklyn, New York City in September 2009. Around this time, he began playing piano and singing. '2011: Musical beginnings and ''Symphony Following encouragement from friends and family, Kingston posted a video of himself singing "Sink or Swim" by Tyrone Wells onto his YouTube account in January 2011. Over the next few months, Kingston met with several independent New York-based record labels, however these labels ultimately declined to sign Kingston due to his young age. In May, a local counterpart of Bysa Records offered to fly Kingston to Arizona to meet with producers and other label executives, however Bysa withdrew from this agreement the following month, again citing his age as a negative factor. Kingston continued to record covers throughout June, when he came across several online record labels that mostly handled cover artists. Looking for a label that would professionally and realistically release his covers, he came across Banana Recordz. He submitted his "Sink or Swim" cover video to the label, and he signed a recording contract for one album cycle on 4 July. He agreed to a two-year publishing agreement through Banana Music Publishing the following day and immediately began recording the album in Guardings Studio, an independent studio located a few blocks away from his home. Already having several recorded covers, and looking to quickly release his covers, Kingston's debut single "Bend or Break" was released on 20 July. The song was independently written and produced by Kingston, who drew inspiration from "Sink or Swim" for the song. "Bend or Break" would ultimately go on to be nominated for Best Original Song in the 2012 SMA Music Awards. Following the release of this single, he released "To Build A Home" as his second single in August. In September, he collaborated with fellow Banana Recordz artist Carly on the single "Love You Like A Love Song", which was nominated for Best Collaboration in the 2012 SMA Music Awards. His fourth single "Marchin' On" was released in October as the final single from his first album. Symphony, his debut album, was released on 9 November. The album contained 7 songs, and its release had been delayed by about two weeks. Upon release, Symphony received mixed reviews, and its financial success was lukewarm. Despite this, Banana Recordz considered Kingston to have further potential, and his contract with the label was renewed for one additional album cycle in December. On 11 November, the Top 5 audio podcast Banana Recordz Countdown premiered with Kingston serving as its host, however the podcast was immediately put on hiatus. '''2011–12: ''In January ''and re-issues Following the renewal of his contract, Josh opted to release his second album in Spring 2012. He began primary recording for this album on 8 December 2011. He stated later that month that his second album would be more "mellow" than Symphony, and that he was hoping to put more time and effort into the album than he did with his debut effort. Banana stated that the album would be rock-influenced. Kingston launched Indigo Records on 1 January 2012. Indigo is licensed as a subsidiary of Banana Music, however was wholly-operated and owned by Kingston. Kingston signed a 3-year deal with Banana Music, that gave Banana exclusive distribution rights for all Indigo Records content through 2015. On 13 January, Kingston announced that his second album, In January, would be released on 2 May. Kingston had initially contemplated naming the album Home. The lead single from the album, "Stronger" was released on 14 February, followed by its second single "Chasing Cars", which was released on 30 March. In January was released two weeks earlier than initially planned on 20 April. The album contained 12 tracks along with 3 bonus tracks. In April, Kingston was asked by Banana Music to record new songs for a deluxe edition of the album. On 1 June, a new song entitled "Wide Awake" was released as the lead single from the album's deluxe edition. "Set Fire to the Rain" was released as the third single from In January and the fourth overall single from the In January era on 20 June. The album's deluxe edition, entitled'' In January: Four Seasons'', was released on 26 June and contained 6 new songs. On 1 August, a SendSpace exclusive version of the album was released under the title In January: Download Release, which contained 1 new song entitled "Eyes Open", which won an SMA Music Award for Best Original Song. "Part of Me" was released as Four Seasons' second and final single on 27 August. On 17 September, a new song entitled "I Won't Give Up" was released as the lead single from'' In January: The Complete Collection''; the final re-release/deluxe edition of In January. On 11 October, "In January" was released as the fourth and final single from the original edition of In January. "Fix You" was released on 10 November as the second and final single from The Complete Collection, and as the ninth and final overall single from the'' In January'' era. The Complete Collection was released on 11 November, officially ending the In January ''era. '2012–present: Up in Flames, documentary, and Carols In March 2012, Kingston confirmed that he would create a third album. He began writing original music later that month; however later decided to have the album consist mostly of covers instead of original content. Recording for his third album had been planned to begin in September, however he delayed recording in order to promote his compilation album, In January: The Complete Collection. In January 2013, Kingston was awarded the 2012 Banana Music Artist of the Year Award. Recording for his third album began on 1 January and he spent the majority of the next two months recording the album and planning out how the album and its singles would be released and promoted. In February, Banana Recordz Countdown returned, however Kingston did not return as the podcast's host. Also in February, Kingston renewed his recording contract with Banana for an additional album cycle, securing an agreement for Banana Music to release his third album and all other involved projects. In a highly promoted and anticipated press release on 3 March 2013, Kingston announced that his third album, Up in Flames, would be released in June, and he released the album's lead single "Charlie Brown". On 8 April, Kingston guest-hosted Banana Recordz Countdown, where he announced that Up in Flames would be released on 23 June. The album was available for a limited engagement two-day pre-order that began on 15 April. The album's second official single "Madness" was released on 19 April. On 1 June, Banana Music announced that the album's release had been moved to 28 June. The album's third single "Get Lucky", which was released on 6 June as the final pre-album release single. Up in Flames was released on 28 June 2013. On 2 July, it was announced that Kingston would perform at the 2013 Banana Music Awards on 18 August. His publishing agreement with Banana Music Publishing expired on 5 July and was briefly operated on a temporary extension. On 18 July, Kingston signed a publishing deal with Blue Publishing, who will handle negotiations for his future publication, promotional, contractual, and endorsement deals. The fourth single from Up in Flames, "Strawberry Swing" was released on 21 July as the first post-album release single. On 2 August, Kingston recorded an acoustic extended play entitled Up in Flames Acoustic, which is expected to be released in early 2014. The album will be re-released under the title Up in Flames: Watered Down on 18 November 2013. The re-release's lead single "Use Somebody" will be released on 1 October. He is set to take place in a live musical broadcast entitled Soul on 26 October. A documentary entitled Element based on the Up in Flames era entered production in June; expected for a December release. A Christmas extended play entitled Carols is also scheduled for a December release. '''2014: Fourth album In June 2013, Kingston announced he would record a fourth album. Beginning in October 2013, he will take a six-month recording hiatus and will begin working on the album in April 2014 for an autumn release. Other work ''Darkest Days In April 2012, Banana Music and Banana Television announced a joint venture entitled Spark, which would be a YouTube channel dedicated to stories. Spark announced an October 2012 launch, with a horror anthology podcast entitled ''Darkest Days, written and voiced by Kingston, planned to be Spark's first program. However, the project was later put on hold in order to give Spark a proper launch. Kingston stated in March 2013 that he had been writing anthologies to include in Darkest Days ''for nearly a year, estimating that he had about ten stories finished, and that he would begin recording the podcast once he was finished ''Up in Flames. He stated he was working closely with television producer and friend Matthew LaVernon to decide to the style of the podcast. On 5 May 2013, Spark announced that Darkest Days would premiere on 3 October 2013. Spark is scheduled to launch on the same day. Recording for the podcast began in Provincetown, Massachussetts on 27 July 2013. ''In the Note Banana Audio, a subsidiary of Banana Music Group, was launched on 17 June 2013. Upon its launch, it was announced that Josh Kingston was attatched to host a documentary audio series entitled In the Note'' that would focus on a new topic each episode. On 27 July 2013, it was announced that the podcast would premiere on 1 January 2014, with sixteen episodes ordered to span two seasons. The first season will be titled In the Note: Icon and the second season will be titled In the Note: Urban Legends. The inaugural episodes for the seaosns will focus on Marilyn Monroe and Pompeii, respectively. Artistry and personal life 'Influences and voice' Kingston has consistently referred to as English rock band Coldplay and American rock band OneRepublic as his main influences, and has cited alternative rock as his favourite and most influential music genre. He named his third album Up in Flames which is a song on Coldplay's album Mylo Xyloto (2011). He has stated that Canadian band Marianas Trench is his main influence to include the pop rock and indie genre in his albums. More recently, he has listed Bruno Mars, Florence + the Machine, The Neighbourhood, Lana Del Rey, The Maine, Frank Ocean, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, The Weeknd, and Drake as influences. Kingston's albums consistently have major alternative rock, pop rock, indie rock, indie pop, and pop influences, however many of his songs utilize genres such as R&B and neo-soul. Kingston's voice has been praised for its mellow and relaxing undertones, however has been criticized for not working with many pop songs, with most critics noting that his voice works better with indie songs. Kingston has acknowledged this, saying, "I know that there are genres I should do and genres I shouldn't do, just as there are with any artist, but I enjoy experimenting with other types of music and I wouldn't consider indie to be my most influential genre". 'Religion and health' Kingston has stated he is agnostic and does not believe in any specific religion, however has stated "I would hope that some type of physical or spiritual force is helping us and guiding us along". He has stated most of his family members are Christian but lack major religious beliefs, and that he has never attended or "even been inside of" a church or any other religious establishment. Kingston was formally a vegetarian, however now eats meat due to chronic low blood pressure. Due to his hypotension, Kingston often faints and he takes medication for this. 'Citizenship' Although he has lived in the United States since September 2009, Kingston is not an American citizen and retains his Canadian citizenship. He adopted a green card shortly before moving to the country. In December 2011, regarding his decision to not become an American citizen, he stated: "My older sister has dual citizenship. Personally, I don't want to become an American citizen because Canada will always be my real home and I'm planning to go to college there and live there, so I don't see why I need to become an American". In February 2013, his father applied to become a citizen of France. His request was granted in June 2013, making Kingston a citizen of France through right of blood. In August 2013, his mother became an American citizen; making Kingston also an American citizen through right of blood. Discography 'Studio albums' *''Symphony'' (2011) *''In January'' (2012) *''Up in Flames'' (2013) Singles |- ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;"|Title ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;"|Year ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;"|Album |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Bend or Break" | colspan="1" rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|2011 | colspan="1" rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|''Symphony'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|"To Build A Home" |- | "Love You Like A Love Song" (ft. Carly) |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Marchin On" |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Stronger" | colspan="1" rowspan="9" style="text-align:center;"|2012 | colspan="1" rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|''In January'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Chasing Cars" |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Wide Awake" | style="text-align:center;"|''In January: Four Seasons'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Set Fire to the Rain" | style="text-align:center;"|''In January'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Eyes Open" | style="text-align:center;"|''In January: Download Release'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Part of Me" | style="text-align:center;"|''In January: Four Seasons'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|"I Won't Give Up" | style="text-align:center;"|''In January: The Complete Collection'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|"In January" | style="text-align:center;"|''In January'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Fix You" | style="text-align:center;"|''In January: The Complete Collection'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Charlie Brown" | colspan="1" rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|2013 | colspan="1" rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|''Up in Flames'' |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Madness" |- | style="text-align:center;"| "Get Lucky" |- | style="text-align:center;"|"Strawberry Swing" |}